Art shows off artists’ passion
SOLO exhibitions and group shows reflect the passion and enthusiasm of the artists seen through their interpretation of favourite subjects. For some the choice of media is equally important whether it is the succulence of paint, the subtle tones and textures of bark, or the physicality of wheel thrown clay.
The Foyer Gallery at the Repertory Theatre, 94 Margaret St, is an intimate and harmonious space well suited to “The Winter Exhibition,” a body of vibrant paintings by Diana Battle. The artist’s distinctive style translates nature into a softly focussed kaleidoscope that shares her impressions of familiar terrains.
An initial photograph may capture a shaft of light, the colour of a petal, or the wind in a sail, but Battle quickly puts aside the obvious ‘frozen moment’ and allows her paint to translate memory and image into a personal and creative statement that has universal appeal.
Trees and buildings, people and places become patterns of enchantment: romantic, even nostalgic but not sugary sweet, these are paintings to enjoy for a lifetime.
The Culliford Gallery at the Toowoomba Art Society, 1 Godsall St, is showing “An Animal Story,” a series of works by Joy Holt. Paintings and mixed media studies honour a respect for animals whether a favourite pony, a farmyard menagerie, birds and butterflies, or a face-to-face with an elephant.
A group of small, sometimes stilted, ink and wash works of more exotic creatures suggest the potential of an Art Society sponsored ‘workshop’ outing to the Darling Downs Zoo where artists would have the opportunity to draw the beasties from life.
The Corridor at the Art Society is featuring “The Magic of Paperbark” an exhibition by Marie Ah See, Heather Ennor, Joan Naumann, Roslyn Slack, and Gloria Taylor who are members of the Art in Bark Group.
The artists have used the bark of the Melaleuca in all its tonal subtleties to create pictures of landscapes, flower still life works, and compositions featuring small garden birds.
Parkside Ceramics at the Darling Downs Potter’s Club, 145 West St, is showcasing July’s Artist of the Month, Angela Brown.
A relative new-comer to wheel thrown pottery, Ms Brown has thrived on tuition by Club president Glen Wardle and she has become a passionate exponent of this particular and challenging technique. Her colourful and cheerful vessels are desirable objects that happily mix the decorative with the functional.
The Lockyer Valley Art Gallery in Gatton is presenting an exhibition by the U3A members of the Warrego Art Group.
From Beverley Sellar’s dramatic “Wild at Heart“to the bold still life studies by Fay Steel, from Flo Pierpoint’s transcendental abstract “Purple Maze“, and Yvonne James’s meticulous ‘post cards, to the pyrography by Lucette Urbain the works combine the traditional and the experimental with a tangible enthusiasm.